Google Glass Availability

Google Glass looks interesting, and now we have some timelines from Mountain View...

I have to admit: Google Glass has captured my imagination in a way that no other technology has since the smartphone. The difference between this and the boom in mobile over the last ~5 years or so, though, is that it’s made me want to start digging back into development so I could build stuff for it– a desire I haven’t really had with the mobile space. (To be clear, I’m not ready to make a career change, but I am seriously considering adding a new hobby.)

There’s something extremely compelling about an always-available camera and unobtrusive transparent screen that opens up a huge number of possible scenarios that I’ve been dreaming about for decades, which has been fed by my love of science fiction.

To be clear– what appeals to me about Glass is not its current state, but what it can evolve into. The current prototypes are bulky and dorky looking… but give it a decade, and they will be literally invisible– integrated into normal-looking glasses and even contact lenses. In addition to form factor (and battery life) improvements, there are interaction problems to be solved, and even social and legal issues to consider. I really think wearable computing devices like Glass will be one of the biggest areas of growth in the next 10 years.

I’d love to get my hands on one of these things for experimentation, but I’m not sure if I want to enter a contest for the privilege of buying one at full cost. I have literally dozens of ideas for applications– none would be particularly difficult to build… but there’s so much exploration to be done in optimizing the interaction models for unobtrusive use. I don’t want to wait for commercial availability.